28-year-old Kevin Yang never had any formal training in photography but learned his craft initially through trial and error, before becoming a commercial photography assistant. “I majored in video production,” he adds, “I made a short film but ultimately decided that I was more interested in stills.”

Kevin seeks inspiration from the usual suspects, namely films and daily life. He is constantly trying to find a balance between commercial and personal work, and draws the line between the two very clearly.

The featured image is part of a series titled “A Japanese Winter”, shot in Kyoto. “I followed the schoolgirl in the picture for quite a while and she was aware that I was following her. Then she sat down with the cat, and was completely nonchalant about my presence. She looked so at peace and calm in the bitter cold, that I literally had to freeze the moment,” Kevin explains. “In my personal work, I always try to seek beauty in the ordinary, especially in life’s quiet and fleeting moments. When I’m shooting for myself by myself, it is usually just me and my camera. I don’t like to have to explain my pictures too much, because I always feel the reason why I chose photography is to let the pictures speak for themselves. I think sometimes photographers get too caught up with trying to say or mean so much within a frame that they forget photography is a visual medium after all.”